With underground water storage capacity dropping in the fifteen county Central Coastal Plain Capacity Use Area, regulations governing water usage there could be implemented as early as 2002. Some users of over 100,000 gallons of water a day, like towns and factories, would need a special permit and be required to report water use rates to the state.

Bellis discusses how the land surfaces of the North Carolina Coastal Plain were shaped over the eons by the flow of water and why Goose Creek State Park is an excellent place to view the transition zone between brackish marsh and coastal forest.